DeAndre Harris scored 28 points, Liam Thomas added 14 points and Nicholls State coach Richie Riley won his debut in a 79-73 win over Boston College Friday night in the opener for both schools.

Duke expected to rule the ACC

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Duke is the overwhelming favorite to win the loaded ACC, but Virginia and UNC are sure to put pressure on the Blue Devils. Eamonn Brennan says the conference looks like an "absolute beast." Conference races (Insider)

There's nowhere to go but up for the Eagles, who were winless in the ACC last season but return a slew of young players who gained valuable experience.

ESPN Stats & Info

Two ACC teams are going to Houston

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Syracuse faces Virginia and Notre Dame meets North Carolina in Sunday's Elite Eight games, which means the ACC will have two teams in the Final Four for the sixth time in history.

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BC AD supports winless coaches

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Boston College's Athletic Director Brad Bates said in a letter to school supporters he has "total confidence" in his football and men's basketball coaches, who combined to win zero conference games this season. He wrote, "I have absolutely no doubt they will succeed.''

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Jeff Goodman ESPN Insider

Spoke with BC big man Dennis Clifford -- and he wants to clear up one thing: He hopes that people don't take his comments the other day the wrong way. "People think I don't care about the basketball aspect. That's what concerns me. What I was trying to say was that I loved my experiences with my teammates over the years -- and a big part of that was going out to eat with them. Things didn't go well this year but I had a lot of great experiences in my career at BC."